Skyguide Issue 032

-------------------------------- SKYGUIDE UK ---------------------------------
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|    Your digest of the latest news in the world of Satellite & Cable TV     |
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--------------------- Week Ending Sun January 16th 1994 ----------------------

* AS IT WAS MEANT TO BE SEEN

Sky Television has announced that it will begin screening selected showings
of films in Widescreen, across its movie channels.

Films being broadcast in Widescreen in the next month are:

Once Upon A Crime (January 24th, Sky Movies)
JFK (February 1st, Sky Movies)
Final Analysis (February 8th, Sky Movies)
Far And Away (February 14th, Sky Movies)
The Prince Of Tides (February 22nd, The Movie Channel)
Terminator 2 - Judgement Day (February 24th, Sky Movies)

* SKY SPORTS 2 LAUNCHING IN FEBRUARY

After a change of heart at Sky, Sky Sports 2 will launch, in a fashion, in
February. It had previously been postponed until September.

The channel will accomodate the West Indies cricket coverage when there are
other major events screening on Sky Sports. The matches will provide
prime-time evening viewing, starting from 4pm, but Sky did not want to
displace other major sporting events which it carried as part of its evening
line-up on Sky Sports.

* SATELLITE SHUFFLES

Marcopolo 1, the ex-BSB satellite recently purchased by the Swedish Space
Corporation, has been named "Sirius", and is to be located next to Tele-X at
5 degrees East by the end of February.

SSC purchased the satellite from UK company NTL, who themselves inherited a
right from the former IBA to purchase the satellite from Sky.

Some concern has been raised that the satellite could cause interference to
Thor (which was, ironically, Marcopolo 2 before it was sold, moved and
renamed), positioned at 8 degrees east - just three degrees away. Since the
two Marcopolo satellites both broadcast on the same set of frequencies, the
close proximity of the satellites when broadcasting different signals could
be cause for concern.

Meanwhile, TV-Sat 2, owned by Deutche Bundespost Telekom, is to be moved
alongside the three Astra satellites in March.

SES and DBP recently announced their intentions to co-operate in research for
a digital television system, and the shift of the German satellite is in
pursuit of this. A package of DSR radio channels will be offered on one of
the four TV-Sat 2 transponders, with the other three set for digital test
transmissions.

* SUPER IN TURKEY

NBC Super Channel is understood to have put plans for an Astra service on the
back burner while they set their sights on a transponder on the new Turksat
satellite, set to be launched in a few weeks time. A transponder would give
Super a strong presence in western Asia, as well as Europe.

* AY! NO ES BUENO!

Spanish satellite viewers are being offered legitimate Sky subscriber
agreement forms and viewing cards by rogue satellite dealers.

The cards and agreements are not for use outside the UK, and Sky believes
that a batch of stolen Sky forms and Quickstart cards are being used.

How the dealers have the cards authorised is not known, although Sky will
doubtless be very keen to find out in order to plug the loophole.

Sky can doubtless draw some comfort from the statistic that sales of their
legitimate viewing cards are now rivalling sales of pirate cards in Spain.

* THERE WAS A YOUNG MAN FROM DEVIZES..

Irish radio station Radio Limerick is now available on Astra. The service is
being carried on an audio subcarrier on Transponder 22 (MTV), and forms part
of a Europe-wide service for Irish listeners.

* MONEY

UBS Phillips and Drew, a London Stockbroker, has forecast an operating profit
of 518 million pounds in 1997.

It also predicts profits of 170 million pounds in the financial year ending
June 1994, and that the next three years will see dish ownership rise to six
million.

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Skyguide Issue 32                                         Edited by Ant Purvis

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